I came across the Boxwood festival/workshops in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia while browsing the flute forum (www.boxwood.org)…getting a little bit interested in flute, so I was poking around. They (Boxwood) mention whistles…has anyone been to this, and how much whistle content is there? They had Brian Finnegan as an instructor last year, and Mary Bergin is mentioned from previous years. Anyone have a whsitler perspective on this?
Man, compared to most of us, Boxwood is right in your own back yard!! Go there and report back to us after the workshops.
FWIW-- I went to a flute workshop once with Chris Norman and it was terrific. This was only an hour long thing at a folk festival, but if that was any indication Boxwood should be fabulous.
Ok, so I thought this was to be a thread about a kind of wood…too much of that home made wine.
Philo
So…you’re saying it’s basically my duty to attend? “Honey, duty calls…I’m off to Lunenburg for a week of gourmet cuisine and playing around. The guys at Chiff and Fipple say I have to go. Hold the fort, what?”
Okay, I’m considering it. Found some stuff in the archives that say it’s basically all flutes, although the website seems to imply there is stuff for other instruments there (I’m trying to interest my fiddle/bouzouki buddy). May have to flute up; don’t have one now
I attended Boxwood this past year and found it to be a wonderful time. While the major emphasis is on flutes, there were several people who played whistles and it didn’t matter at all. Every class you learn tunes and then learn about playing from those tunes. The whistlers just learned on the whistle.
Brian is a great guy and a terrific teacher. One of the best classes had he and Chris Norman together. Brian as the “whistle player who also plays flute” and Chris as the “flute player who sometimes plays a whistle”. They discussed how a tune is different or the same moving from flute to whistle and back.
Here’s a link to a flikr picture
http://flickr.com/photos/28869772@N07/2744938357/in/pool-805966@N20